Floor Statements

Madam Speaker, it is a privilege for me to pay tribute to over 112,000 of my constituents during Hispanic Heritage Month. September 15th through October 15th has been selected to honor, celebrate and commemorate the history and contributions that people of Hispanic heritage have made to the United States of America.

Today there are 45.5 million Hispanic Americans and it is fitting to acknowledge their many contributions. The belief that hard work can bring a better life and future for our children is part of our shared and treasured American dream.

I would like to take this opportunity to recognize the outstanding organizations serving California's 14th Congressional District. In addition to many other excellent organizations, the following make important contributions to our community while respecting, preserving and sharing their heritage and culture.

The Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley is a public foundation that cultivates philanthropy to inspire Hispanic children and families to achieve personal greatness.

The Hispanic Foundation of Silicon Valley engages leadership and bridges resources to invest in a thriving Hispanic community.

MACLA Movimiento de Arte y Cultura Latino Americana is a contemporary art space dedicated to supporting the work of emerging Latino artists and audiences and promotes programs that create opportunities between traditional audiences and new art forms and emerging artists. Mexican Heritage Corporation is an arts and cultural organization whose focus is to affirm, celebrate, and preserve the complexity and richness of Latino art and cultural heritage. The Mexican Heritage Corporation serves Silicon Valley and Northern California by presenting and advancing Mexican and multicultural performing arts. It is one of the largest Latino cultural centers in the Nation.

Fair Oaks Community Center--The Fair Oaks Community Center is a multi-service center offering a variety of services to the broader Redwood City Community. Services include: Education, immigration and citizenship, senior services, housing, employment, legal services, and crisis intervention. They also offer emergency food programs served by a combination of City staff, as well as representatives from public and private non-profit agencies.

Madam Speaker, I ask all my colleagues to join in celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month to honor the citizens who work daily to build a better future for all American families.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to express my support for the H.R. 3997 Emergency Economic Stabilization Act.

Each of us is outraged about the circumstances that have brought our financial system to near collapse. In my view, this was brought on by the Bush administration's failed economic policies and their support for ``cowboy capitalism,'' believing the markets must be allowed to run free and unfettered. Instead, Wall Street has been allowed to run wild without accountability, without transparency and without effective enforcement or regulations to protect the American taxpayer.

The legislation the President presented to Congress on Monday, September 22, requested Congress to approve a $700 billion bailout, with the Treasury Secretary empowered to set the rules for all transactions. The bill included no safeguards, no transparency, no accountability, and no oversight. This plan was wrong for the American people and we rejected it.

Over the past week, legislation has been completely reshaped and it now includes three essential elements to rebuild our financial system. First, we will reinvest in troubled financial markets to stabilize our economy and insulate Main Street from Wall Street. Second, the taxpayer will be reimbursed through ownership shares and asset recovery as the plan begins to work. Finally, the bill will reform how business is done on Wall Street including the prohibition of golden parachutes.

This legislation ensures that taxpayers have an equity share in any profits and gives taxpayers an ownership stake and profit sharing of participating companies. It puts taxpayers first in line to recover assets if a participating company fails, and allows the Government to purchase troubled assets from pension plans, local government, and small banks that serve low- and middle-income families.

H.R. 3997 includes strong independent oversight and transparency through an establishment of an independent bipartisan board to provide oversight, review and accountability of taxpayer funds. The Government Accountability Office will have a presence at Treasury to oversee the program and conduct audits to ensure strong internal controls, and to prevent waste, fraud, and abuse. There will be an independent Inspector General to monitor the Treasury Secretary's decisions in regard to this program and all transactions will be posted online for the public to review.

Rather than giving the Treasury all the funds at once, the legislation gives the Treasury $250 billion immediately, then requires the President to certify that additional funds are needed, $100 billion, then $350 billion, subject to congressional disapproval, and there are limits on golden parachutes for executives whose companies participate in the program. We will help homeowners by allowing the Government to change the terms of mortgages to help reduce the 2 million projected foreclosures in the next year. It will also assist school districts, cities and counties who had investments in failed institutions.

I firmly believe if we do nothing, our ability to obtain home mortgages, car loans, student loans, loans for small businesses, or even credit cards will become highly difficult or impossible. Even more financial institutions could fail and millions could lose their pensions and retirement savings, thousands of jobs could be lost, and large parts of our economy could cease to function. The repercussions would be far greater than the cost of a financial rescue program.

This is as tough a vote as any I've ever taken during my time in Congress. Today, I will vote ``yes'' because I believe we've shaped a good bill which is fair to taxpayers and a plan to address the many critical issues plaguing the U.S. financial system.

Having said this, I know that no legislation is perfect; it is a product of human beings. But doing nothing I believe is a higher risk to our country and would hurt millions of Americans across the nation. I didn't come to Congress to hurt people. My ``yes'' vote is to help the country move forward, protect taxpayers, help Main Street, protect pensions, protect 401(k)s, and restore our credit markets and, with no rewards for those whose greed and foolishness have so jeopardized our economy.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to offer the Act to Save America's Forests.

Our forests are an extraordinary natural resource which must be preserved. Unfortunately, aggressive logging practices on Federal land have eliminated much of our Nation's remaining forests and their native biological diversity. This is a sensible bill to limit aggressive logging and protect our forests and our environment.

The Act to Save America's Forests bans clearcutting in all Federal forests. It also ends logging in the last virgin forests, roadless areas, and other core regions of the Federal forest system. The bill allows for limited and ecologically sustainable logging in lands that have already been logged outside of core forest areas.

An important provision of the bill transfers jurisdiction of the Giant Sequoia National Monument from the Forest Service to the Park Service to manage and protect this important ecological asset. The Forest Service has continued to allow logging of the sequoias, which is not acceptable, and the courts finally put a stop to this egregious practice. My constituent, Martin Litton, has fought tirelessly for decades to protect the magnificent giant sequoia trees and the congressional action proposed in the Act to Save America's Forests will ensure their long term protection.

This year, the bill includes a new provision for the Department of Interior to conduct environmental surveys to identify ecosystems not currently included in our national park system. These studies will identify needs to ensure that our national parks will preserve as much natural diversity as possible.

Preserving our forests not only ensures that we will maintain the natural beauty of our Nation, it will help mitigate climate change by reducing carbon emissions. Forests are an important carbon storage medium and the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change estimated that deforestation accounts for 20-25 percent of annual greenhouse gas emissions. In 2006, the Environmental Protection Agency estimated that forests in the U.S. absorbed enough carbon dioxide to offset 11 percent of our country's emissions. Logging reduces the capacity of our forests to absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, so unless we act

now to prevent aggressive logging, we could lose 50-80 percent of our carbon storage capacity and reduce our ability to mitigate the effects of climate change.

The Act to Save America's Forests will ensure that future generations of Americans will inherit and enjoy our Nation's irreplaceable natural forest treasures.

I'm very proud to introduce this bipartisan bill with 70 cosponsors and I urge my colleagues on both sides of the aisle to join me in supporting this important piece of legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in strong support of my legislation, H.R. 1283, the Arthritis Prevention, Control, and Cure Act. I have fought long and hard for this bill, along with the Arthritis Foundation, the American College of Rheumatology, and the thousands of advocates across the country that understand the need for this legislation.

With 1 out of 5 adults suffering from arthritis, this debilitating condition is the most common cause of disability in the United States. More than 300,000 children suffer from juvenile arthritis--more than the number of children with juvenile diabetes yet we have a severe shortage of pediatric rheumatologists in our country with only 239 nationwide and 11 states without even one. Early diagnosis for this disease is crucial and without it, thousands of children go undiagnosed because they don't have access to the right doctor.

This bill addresses the shortage through loan reimbursements for doctors who go into pediatric rheumatology, an increase in research of juvenile arthritis, and State grants for comprehensive arthritis programs and public health outreach.

I'm very proud to see the Arthritis Prevention, Control, and Cure Act on the floor today and I look forward to seeing the Senate companion, sponsored by my dear friend Senator Kennedy, pass the other body as well.

The bill was ordered to be engrossed and read a third time, was read the third time, and passed, and a motion to reconsider was laid on the table.

Mr. Speaker, the legislation we are voting on today, the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, can be appropriately characterized as civil rights legislation. Our country has made a great deal of progress in ending discrimination over the last half century, but a person's medical condition is still the basis for discrimination. Nowhere has this fact been more evident than with respect to mental illness and the stigma that has been attached to it.

Until a generation ago, parents were accused of causing their children's mental illnesses. In passing the Paul Wellstone and Pete Domenici Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equity Act, America is taking a giant step to remove the stigma surrounding mental illness, and how proud I am that my constituent, David Wellstone, has taken up his late father's effort to make this bill, which I'm a cosponsor of, a reality.

This bill permanently reauthorizes and expands the Mental Health Parity Act of 1996 to provide for equity in the coverage of mental health and substance use disorders when compared to medical and surgical disorders. The legislation ensures that group health plans cannot charge higher copayments, coinsurance, or deductibles nor can they impose higher maximum out-of-pocket limits on mental health and addiction care than for medical and surgical benefits. While the bill does not mandate group health plans to provide mental health coverage, it does require parity if they do.

This is landmark legislation. It is fair and it is sensible. And it stands as a tribute to the families and patients who for decades have advocated for its passage. With true parity for mental health benefits, the door that was locked by stigma is once and for all open to coverage for more Americans, recognizing their worth and dignity.

How proud I am to have been part of the long fight which has brought us to this day!

Madam Speaker, I rise today to pay tribute to an outstanding researcher, business leader, professor, husband, father, grandfather, sailor, winemaker and prolific inventor, Michael A. Kelly, who is retiring after decades of outstanding work at Stanford University in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering.

Mike was born to James and Irene Kelly on December 14, 1936, in Roswell, New Mexico, (pop. 35,000--largest city for 200 miles) with wide open spaces and lots of sky. The Navy gave him an ROTC scholarship to UCLA when he was 18 years old and because he was such an outstanding student, he graduated in 1959 with a B.S. in engineering.

The Navy sent Mike to the Brooklyn Navy Yard for 3 years where large ships equivalent to aircraft carriers were built. He loved New York City where military service people were treated with great respect and given free tickets to Broadway plays and concerts. Mike attended Brooklyn Polytechnic during this time and received his MSEE in 1963.

After the Navy, Mike returned to California where he was accepted into one of the most competitive graduate programs in the nation, University of California at Berkeley's Physics Department. Mike studied photonuclear physics experiments on oriented nuclei under Professor Carl Helmholtz, finishing a PhD in nuclear physics in 1968.

Hewlett Packard wisely tapped Mike after he graduated to run a group developing analytical instruments running HP's R&D and marketing efforts for the early XPS spectrometer which was introduced in 1972. HP sold Mike the parts needed to build an XPS. Three colleagues and Mike developed a business plan to form a company called Surface Science Laboratories based in Mountain View, California, using this spectrometer to help local manufacturers solve production problems. Unable to secure venture capital, they each contributed $5,000, and Mike departed HP and became the company's first employee, with his partners helping evenings and weekends. They managed to survive without any additional funding and they were all employed by the company within a year. They added a division to manufacture XPS instruments and grew to about 100 employees. They decided to merge with a publicly traded instrument company (Kevex Corporation, with approximately 300 employees) in 1982, and Mike became the Chief Operating Officer and later President of the combined company.

In 1984, after Kevex Corporation was purchased by a British firm, Mike began his work at Stanford University under the leadership of Stig Hagstrom, then the outstanding Chairman of the Materials Science Department at Stanford. Mike planned to stay about a year, but the environment was so pleasant and invigorating that he stayed as a Consulting Professor, teaching courses in materials synthesis and characterization. Stig accepted a position in Sweden as the Chancellor of the Universities a few years later, and Mike continued to run his research group doing work on CVD diamond growth for five years. In 1991 Mike borrowed an XPS spectrometer from his old company, (Stanford later bought it) forming the basis of what is now the surface analysis lab in SNL. A recent collaboration with the brilliant and wonderful Professor ZX Shen developing a microwave microscope has been a particularly valuable experience for Mike.

Mike has been awarded many professional honors including the IR(100) Award for an imaging, photon counting detector; IR(500) Award for a high spatial resolution XPS spectrometer; the Glenn T. Seaborg Laboratory Special Award for a soft x-ray window; and the Takeda Foundation Techno-Entrepreneurship Award. Mike is a member of the American Physical Society, a Fellow of the American Vacuum Society, and member of the Materials Research Society. He is published and holds many patents.

Lastly, Mike enjoys the honor of being part of the Kelly Clan which includes his wife Carol; his children Jim, Paul, Maureen, and Brian, their spouses and partners Charlie, Lisa, and Jack; Carol's children Karen and Eric, and Eric's wife Sarah; his brothers and sister Tom, Dick, and Barbara, and their spouses and partners Jan, Melanie and Milt; his nephews and nieces Mike (and his wife Darlene), Sean, Kathy (and her husband Mike), Patty, Tommy, Kelly, Mike, Gretchen, and Matt; and his adored grandchildren Izzy, Annie, Lucy, Ryan, Jack, and Katie.

Madam Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in honoring the work of Dr. Michael A. Kelly as he begins the next exciting chapter of his life. Mike has given exemplary service to advance the research goal of better understanding of materials and energy sciences that form the foundation for developing new, clean energy with less impact on our environment, an endeavor that benefits our entire nation. He is a conscientious and gifted mentor of the next generation of talented young scientists, and a true example of being a scholar and a gentleman. It is a privilege to know and represent Mike Kelly and an honor to single out his extraordinary achievements and contributions.

I thank the distinguished chairman of the committee.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 6899, the Comprehensive American Energy Security and Consumer Protection Act of 2008.

As the title of the bill makes clear, there is no greater threat to our economic or our national security than our dependence on fossil fuels. Our Nation is acknowledging something, and that is that we have an addiction to oil and that we are so totally dependent upon it. And who benefits from this addiction? Iran, Venezuela, Russia, rogue regimes. And they are all getting rich off our reliance on a 19th- century energy source. Today, we have an opportunity to strike a blow to some of the most dangerous regimes and promote American economic and American national security. And that's what this bill represents.

The simplistic and unconditional ``drill here, drill now'' rhetoric is not a real response to these challenges. It really falls short of what some of the great leaders of our Nation put forward at another time during the history of our country.

We have to lift ourselves up to end this dangerous addiction by developing renewable energy sources and become energy efficient. Solar panels, electric cars, fuel cells, efficient data centers and green buildings are all being developed by innovators in my congressional district in Silicon Valley. With these technologies, we can export energy to the world instead of being an importer of fossil fuels.

This bill is fully paid for--and I think my Republican friends need to listen up to this--by rolling back needless subsidies to the oil companies, and will develop a renewable energy industry, will create American jobs, will increase production, and will motivate investments in renewable energy through tax credits.

Oil is a necessary source in the near term, and the bill provides for responsible drilling. I think we need to protect our precious coastal regions. And with the offshore oil drilling moratorium expiring in a few weeks, our coast will be open to new leases.

No one wants oil rigs sitting three miles off our coasts; my constituents don't, maybe some others do. But that's why this bill protects 50 miles off of all of our coasts and gives the States the right to review to opt in or not.

This bill is all about the future. Some, placing our country at risk, will choose the past, to stay with the past and to remain addicted.

This bill is a pathway to the future. I'm proud to support it, and I urge my colleagues to do the same.

Announcement by the Speaker Pro Tempore

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Ms. Marritje Greene, a recipient of the prestigious St. Madeleine Sophie Award from Sacred Heart Schools. Established in the year 2000, the St. Madeleine Sophie Award honors individuals in the Sacred Heart community who have made a sustained and significant contribution to the schools and embody the goals and criteria of a Sacred Heart education. The individuals honored are selected by a committee comprised of the senior administrative team in conjunction with the chair of the board of trustees and are honored at a reception and at the Mass of the Holy Spirit, the first all-school liturgy of the school year. The recipients will be VIP guests at various SHS events throughout the year and featured in their alumni magazine, The Heart of the Matter, for their commitment to the mission of Sacred Heart education.

Marritje Greene was chosen along with three other distinguished recipients to be recognized with the award for her dedication to the goals and criteria of Sacred Heart Schools. Mother of three young adult children, Lindsay, Jamie (SHP 2004), and Charlie (SHP 2006), Ms. Greene has been a strong leader, supporter and resource within the Sacred Heart community, especially in her service on the SHS Board of Trustees. While her sons were students at SHS, she was active with the SHP Parents Association, where she actively participated in the annual auction, parent education seminars, and community building. Ms. Greene also initiated a gathering of the northern peninsula families to form a support community for those students and families that would be commuting to school. Wherever she saw a need, she filled it. She is entering her fifth year on the board of trustees and has served as the head of the major gifts committee and is a member of the development committee and the committee for trustees. She is a very ``quiet'' donor and never seeks praise or recognition. One friend says, ``her zest for life and charm makes others feel like participating and giving--all while enjoying themselves.''

Madam Speaker, I ask the entire House of Representatives to join me in honoring Ms. Marritje Greene as she is recognized by the St. Madeleine Sophie Award. Through her many contributions to her family and friends, and especially the Sacred Heart community, she has more than earned the St. Madeleine Sophie Award. Through her special leadership and commitment to excellence, she has established a lasting legacy at Sacred Heart Schools and in the life of every student who comes through its distinguished halls. Our community and our country have been

strengthened by Marritje Greene and it is a privilege to honor her and her work.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Mr. Michael Murphy, a recipient of the prestigious St. Madeleine Sophie Award from Sacred Heart Schools. Established in the year 2000, the St. Madeleine Sophie Award honors individuals in the Sacred Heart community who have made a sustained and significant contribution to the Schools and embody the goals and criteria of a Sacred Heart education. The individuals honored are selected by a committee comprised of the senior administrative team in conjunction with the Chair of the Board of Trustees and are honored at a reception and at the Mass of the Holy Spirit, the first all-school liturgy of the school year. The recipients will be VIP guests at various SHS events throughout the year and featured in their alumni magazine, The Heart of the Matter, for their commitment to the mission of Sacred Heart education.

Michael Murphy was chosen along with three other distinguished recipients to be recognized with the award for his dedication to the goals and criteria of Sacred Heart Schools. Michael (Mike) Murphy; father of Patrick (SHP 2007), has been teaching at St. Joseph's School of the Sacred Heart for 16 years as a middle school teacher. Mr. Murphy was also ordained a permanent deacon for the Archdiocese of San Francisco in 2006. As classroom teacher and deacon, Mr. Murphy has provided spiritual guidance for his students while encouraging them to examine their spiritual lives. He challenges his students to be aware of social justice issues and to engage in service learning. Through discipline, humor and hard work, Mr. Murphy makes a difference in the lives of his students. He stepped in as interim principal for St. Joseph's for the 2007-08 school year and he accepted the role graciously and proved an effective leader for a community in need. Under his strong leadership, the St. Joseph's community reestablished many of its outreach efforts, developed a master plan for new construction and began the first year of a five-year strategic plan.

Madam Speaker, I ask the entire House of Representatives to join me in honoring Michael Murphy as he is recognized by the St. Madeleine Sophie Award. Through his many contributions to his family and friends, and especially the Sacred Heart community, he has more than earned the St. Madeleine Sophie Award through his special leadership and commitment to excellence. He has established a lasting legacy at Sacred Heart Schools in the life of every student who comes through its distinguished halls. Our community and our country have been strengthened by Michael Murphy and it is a privilege to honor him and his work.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Mrs. Mary Ann Robbiano, a dear friend and a recipient of the prestigious St. Madeleine Sophie Award from Sacred Heart Schools. Established in the year 2000, the St. Madeleine Sophie Award honors individuals in the Sacred Heart community who have made a sustained and significant contribution to the Schools and embody the Goals and Criteria of a Sacred Heart education. The individuals honored are selected by a committee comprised of the senior administrative team in conjunction with the Chair of the Board of Trustees and are honored at a reception and at the Mass of the Holy Spirit, the first all-school liturgy of the school year. The recipients will be VIP guests at various SHS events throughout the year and featured in their alumni magazine, The Heart of the Matter, for their commitment to the mission of Sacred Heart education.

Mary Anne Robbiano was chosen along with three other distinguished recipients to be recognized with the Award for her dedication to the Goals and Criteria of Sacred Heart Schools. Mother of three adult children, Kay (SHP 1972), Paul, and Angie (SHP 1976), Mrs. Robbiano began her relationship with Sacred Hearts Schools when her oldest daughter entered kindergarten in 1960. She was the school nurse from 1968 until 1976, and dealt with many different problems and situations including comforting homesick, boarders, tending to skinned knees, broken bones, colds and flues. Each child was treated as if she were her own daughter. Oakwood, the home for the retired Religious of the Sacred Heart, was built in 1976 and Mrs. Robbiano was asked to be

the Director of Nursing at the Oakwood Infirmary. Her philosophy was to treat each woman with respect and dignity. Since her retirement in 1990, she remains dedicated to Oakwood by volunteering her time to the nuns through the Oakwood Auxiliary and the Children of Mary. She and her husband Paul celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary with a Mass at the Oakwood Chapel in September 2007.

Madam Speaker, I ask the entire House of Representatives to join me in honoring Mrs. Mary Ann Robbiano as she is given the St. Madeleine Sophie Award. Through her countless contributions to her family and friends, and most especially the Sacred Heart community, she has more than earned this Award. Her hard work and commitment to excellence are a lasting legacy at Sacred Heart Schools and live on in the life of every student who has come through its distinguished halls. Her deep faith and the practice of it have inspired everyone who knows her. Our community and our country have been bettered because of Mary Ann Robbiano and I consider it a privilege to know her and honor her.

Madam Speaker, I rise today to honor Mr. Ken Thompson, a recipient of the prestigious St. Madeleine Sophie Award from Sacred Heart Schools. Established in the year 2000, the St. Madeleine Sophie Award honors individuals in the Sacred Heart community who have made a sustained and significant contribution to the Schools and embody the Goals and Criteria of a Sacred Heart education. The individuals honored are selected by a committee comprised of the senior administrative team in conjunction with the Chair of the Board of Trustees and are honored at a reception and at the Mass of the Holy Spirit, the first all-school liturgy of the school year. The recipients will be VIP guests at various SHS events throughout the year and featured in their alumni magazine, The Heart of the Matter, for their commitment to the mission of Sacred Heart education.

Ken Thompson was chosen along with three other distinguished recipients to be recognized with the Award for his dedication to the Goals and Criteria of Sacred Heart Schools. Mr. Thompson arrived at Sacred Heart Schools in January 1989 as a long-term substitute physical education instructor at St. Joseph's. An Honors graduate in mathematics from UC Berkeley, as well as a former Cal basketball star, he was hired the following year to serve as the Sacred Heart Prep Athletic Director and to coach basketball and teach math. Three years later, he moved full-time into the academic world as SHP Math Chair, where he markedly strengthened the department and demonstrated the leadership that would lead him to be named Dean of Faculty in 2002. Two years later, he became Academic Dean, a position he has filled with extraordinary intelligence, conscientiousness, and diplomacy. The classic Renaissance Man, Ken is also an actor and a singer. He currently directs and writes musical arrangements for two a cappella groups on campus, one for faculty men and one for both faculty and students. Since the winter of 2005, he has waged a valiant war against leukemia, providing a model of courage and fortitude to the entire Sacred Heart community.

Madam Speaker, I ask the entire House of Representatives to join me in honoring Mr. Ken Thompson as he is recognized by the St. Madeleine Sophie Award. Through his many

contributions to his family and friends and especially the Sacred Heart community, he has more than earned the St. Madeleine Sophie Award and through his special leadership and commitment to excellence, he has built a lasting legacy at Sacred Heart Schools and in the life of every student who comes through its distinguished halls. Our community and our country have been strengthened by Ken Thompson and it is a privilege to honor him and his work.

I thank the chairman for recognizing me.

First I want to pay tribute to a great, great Member of the House and someone that we are so, so proud and grateful to, and that is Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro. Your mother is proud, Rosa. We are all proud. You have really paid for your keep here by making such a contribution. And also to the great George Miller, who saw this legislation through.

I want to make a couple of observations. My friend from California just went through a whole discussion that really is not a part of this bill, and it is all about comparable worth. That is not what is in this bill.

I also want to make another observation. There are very few on the other side that are coming to defend the case that is being made over there.

No, because I don't have that much time.

My other observation is that the case being made by our friends on the Republican side really states very fully that you are on the wrong side of history. What this bill does is to give women the tools that they need legally so that an employer can no longer discriminate against them.

Have any of you heard of Lilly Ledbetter, of that case and what happened to that woman?

No, I am not yielding. I told you, I don't have enough time. I would like to be able to say everything that I want to say.

What this bill does is it says to employers today that you cannot punish employees any longer who discuss or disclose salary information with their coworkers. I think that is a pretty important thing. This bill also says today that employers will have to give a satisfactory explanation for paying a man more than a woman for the same job, and that they are going to have to demonstrate that the disparity is not sex-based, but job related.

So, today we are trying to even out the playing field. I think if my mother were sitting up there, she would be applauding. I think that mothers and daughters and fathers and grandparents and legislators and people across the country today, the last day of the month, are saying that the last now are going to come first, and we know in our society that women have not come first. Today we are talking about the waitress. We are talking about what Mr. Andrews talked about, and that is the woman that heads up the office. We are talking about the Lilly Ledbetters.

So today I think that we are making the Union stronger and better by recognizing that there have been disparities and by recognizing the way we fix the disparities, and I salute those who have been on this effort for a long, long time.

America, it is a good day, July 31st, 2008, in the House of Representatives, thanks to Rosa DeLauro rewriting history, Chairman Miller for pushing it the way he has, and thank God for the Speaker that makes all of this possible, Nancy Pelosi.

I rise today to express my strong support for H.R. 1338, the Paycheck Fairness Act and I salute Congresswoman DeLauro and Chairman Miller for their important leadership to bring us to this day.

With the passage of the Paycheck Fairness Act the Congress will make the Equal Pay Act a more effective tool in combating gender-based pay discrimination.

Today, if an employer can name any factor that has determined an employee's pay other than gender, they can defend unequal pay in

pay discrimination cases. The employer's reason doesn't even need to be related to the job in question. Under H.R. 1338 employers will have to give a satisfactory explanation for paying a man more than a woman for the same job and they will have to demonstrate that the disparity is not sex-based, but job related.

Employers will also now be barred from punishing employees who discuss or disclose salary information with their co-workers.

Under current law women who have been discriminated against may only recover back pay or in some cases double back pay. The Paycheck Fairness Act will finally put gender-based discrimination on the same level as other forms of wage discrimination by giving women the opportunity to sue for compensatory and punitive damages.

The wage gap between men and women has narrowed since the passage of the landmark Equal Pay Act in 1963, but according to the U.S. Census Bureau, women still only make 77 cents for every dollar earned by a man. it's time to close the gap and pass this law.

I'm very proud to support this bill and I urge a yes vote on the underlying legislation.

Madam Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 4040, the Consumer Product Safety Modernization Act.

In the last year there have been countless reports about dangerous products that have slipped through the cracks and reached store shelves, only to be discovered when someone got hurt. There has been a complete failure by the Consumer Product Safety Commission to keep harmful and sometimes lethal products away from consumers. Red tape, lax enforcement, and a shortage of resources at the CPSC have contributed to the recent recalls: 25.6 million toys were recalled from stores in fiscal year 2007, compared with only 5 million toys in 2006, and it's the American consumer, especially children, who are suffering.

It's become glaringly obvious that we can't rely on manufacturers to police themselves, we need to give the chief consumer regulatory agency the authority and the resources necessary to get unsafe products off the shelves and stop them from coming into the country.

This bill is a significant improvement in product safety from the way we're operating now. It provides additional funding to the CPSC and bolsters the Commission's ability to test and identify dangerous products. It also authorizes State Attorneys General to bring action on behalf of their residents to enforce Federal consumer safety rules.

I'm pleased that my amendment to give the CPSC mandatory recall authority is included in the bill. This an is important tool for the CPSC to wield against the most nefarious companies who resist a recall of their faulty products.

On the other hand, I'm disappointed that my amendment on allowable lead levels in children's toys was not accepted. The amendment I offered in committee would have brought lead levels to 40 parts per million, the standard recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics. It's my hope that the CPSC will take seriously its authority to adopt a more protective standard if it makes the determination that it is feasible and protective of human health.

I support this bipartisan bill to protect American consumers, especially children, and ask my colleagues to support it as well.

Madam Speaker, I rise to honor Dr. William Charles Dement, Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Stanford University School of Medicine, and the Division Chief of the Stanford University Division of Sleep, on the momentous occasion of his 80th birthday and his 45 years of service to Stanford.

Born in 1928 in the State of Washington, Dr. Dement attended the University of Chicago, where he earned his M.D. in 1955 and his Ph.D. in Neurophysiology in 1957.

A pioneer in the scientific study of sleep and sleep disorders, Dr. Dement began his career in sleep research as a medical student in the 1950's when he joined the lab of Dr. Nathaniel Kleitman. There, from 1954 through 1957, he helped discover and describe Rapid Eye Movement (REM) sleep and established the sleep patterns of humans as well as the relationship between REM sleep and dreaming. In doing so, he launched a new field of scientific discovery.

Dr. Dement joined the Psychiatry Department at Stanford University in 1963, where for the past forty-five years he has continued his studies on the neurochemistry of sleep and the functional significance of the different sleep states, and has become one of the world's foremost experts on sleep disorders. Among his many major accomplishments, he established the world's first Sleep Disorders Clinic in 1970, started the publication Sleep Reviews, has written hundreds of scientific papers on sleep and dreaming, and developed the Multiple Sleep Latency Test which remains the standard diagnostic measure of daytime sleepiness. He has established an extraordinary human research program at Stanford which has led to the discovery and understanding of countless sleep-related disorders as well their clinical implications and the development of effective treatment strategies.

Dr. Dement co-founded the Sleep Research Society in 1961 and the American Sleep Disorders Association (ASDA) in 1975, where he served as President for 12 years. During his Presidency, the ASDA grew from five sleep disorder centers with twenty individual members to 140 accredited centers with over 2,000 members. In recent years, Dr. Dement has shifted his focus from research to public education about sleep disorders and the health dangers of persistent sleep deprivation. At the age of 80, Dr. Dement still works at least 40 hours a week and continues to direct the Sleep Disorders Clinic and Research Center. He is legendary for his research on dreams and is one of the most popular lecturers ever on the Stanford campus.

Madam Speaker, I ask the entire House of Representatives to join me in honoring this distinguished American on the occasion of his 80th birthday and his 45th anniversary at Stanford University. As Dr. Dement celebrates this important milestone, the gratitude and respect of the entire House of Representatives are extended to him for his decades of contributions to academic research which have illuminated the significance of sleep and for his work which has formed the basis for the diagnosis and treatment of millions of people affected by sleep- related disorders. How privileged I am to know him, to represent him and to have him as my friend. America is immeasurably better because of him.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today to express my strong support for H.R. 3221, the American Housing Rescue and Foreclosure Act of 2008. I salute Chairman Frank, Chairman Rangel and Senator Dodd for their leadership and their efforts to pass this crucial legislation at a time when American families desperately need our help.

Families across the country are hurting. They're being squeezed by the price of oil, rising food costs, higher education costs and now the struggle to hold onto their homes. For most Americans their main asset is their home. That's why it is critical to end the foreclosure crisis which is fundamental to the recovery of our economy.

My home State of California has been affected as badly as any State in our country. Foreclosures in the Bay area are at a 20-year high, and in Santa Clara County foreclosures are up 512 percent from a year ago. These troubling figures must change and that's why I support this legislation.

H.R. 3221 aims to bolster American homeownership by helping families across the country facing foreclosure keep their homes. It also takes steps to ensure that homeowners do not face foreclosures in the future. Affordable mortgage loan opportunities for families and seniors are expanded through the modernization of the Federal Housing Administration, with FHA loan limits raised to create affordable mortgage loans for moderately priced homes. A permanent Affordable Housing Trust Fund is also created in this bill which will fund building projects throughout the Nation to increase the stock of affordable housing in both urban and rural areas. Tax credits for first time homebuyers and low income homeowners are also included in this legislation and all of these items are accomplished without creating any new burdens to the taxpayer.

The bill provides a new and substantially strengthened regulator to oversee Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the Federal Home Loan Banks. It gives stand-in authority to the Treasury Department in case the Government Sponsored Entities, such as Fannie Mae, require temporary federal financial intervention without placing any new risk on the American taxpayer. This is not a bailout. Taxpayers will be the first in line to be paid back before any shareholders are. Restrictions have been placed on the stock gains for shareholders and on compensation for the executives of the Government Sponsored Entities until taxpayers are fully reimbursed.

I'm proud to support this bill and I urge a ``yes'' vote on the underlying legislation.